To confirm that malaria incidence in Venezuela is associated
with climatic variability due to El Niño/Southern Oscillation.
To test the hypothesis that regional differences in ecology and malaria
in Venezuela moderate the impact of climatic variability due to El Niño/Southern
Oscillation.
Geographic Areas
The study sites are the Venezuelan states of Sucre and Bolivar. Malaria
transmission occurs in both states and they are affected by climatic
variability due to El Niño/Southern Oscillation. The two states provide
a contrast in their ecology and epidemiology of malaria. Sucre state
is a dry coastal state (<1500 mm annual rainfall) in northeastern
Venezuela where 99% of malaria cases are due to Plasmodium vivax.
Bolivar state is located between Guyana and Brazil and is dominated
by tropical rain forest with >2500 mm annual rainfall. In Bolivar
state, malaria cases include P. vivax (60%) and P. falciparum
(40%) and occasional reports of P. malariae.
Data Collection - Retrospective/Prospective
This retrospective study uses entomological, epidemiological and climatological
field data collected in the states of Sucre and Bolivar. This study
is linked to ongoing studies in Sucre and Bolivar as well as the state
of Amazonas to better understand the effects of climate, land use and
social factors on the transmission of malaria.
Methodology
The effort involves two main scientific tasks:
- Organization of available entomological, epidemiological and climatological
data in the states of Sucre and Bolivar.
- Data analysis to establish relationships among climatic parameters,
entomological variables and malaria incidence.
Research Team
The leader of the research team is Dr. Yasmin Rubio-Palis
who is at Instituto de Altos Estudios "Dr. Arnoldo Gabaldon"
and Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas (BIOMED), Universidad de Carabobo
in Maracay, Venezuela. She works in collaboration with Drs. Santiago
Ramos and Laura Delgado, specialists in Ecological Models and GIS, Instituto
de Zoología Tropical, Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas and
Lic. Jorge Moreno, entomologist (IAE, Tumeremo, Bolivar state). The
epidemiologist was initially Dr. Mayira Sojo and is now Dr. Jose Luis
Caceres at the Ministry of Health and Social Development in Maracay.
References
Rubio-Palis Y, Zimmerman RH. 1997. Ecoregional classification of malaria
vectors in the Neotropics. J Med Entomol 34 (5): 499-510.
